More women, less Muslims in 16th LS

 The 16th Lok Sabha has created a record of sorts. It will have the highest number of women and lowest number of Muslim parliamentarians in its 63-year-old history. With the BJP surging beyond the 280-mark, the number of Muslims in the Lok Sabha dwindled to 23, equalling 1957’s lowest-ever representation of the community.

In the outgoing Lok Sabha, there were around 30 Muslim parliamentarians. This time, the BJP does not have a single Muslim MP among them as one of its Muslims faces, Shahnawaz Hussain, lost in Bihar’s Bhagalpur constituency.

There are Muslim representatives from only six states and one Union Territory, with Uttar Pradesh not contributing even one member from the minority community in the 71 out of 80 seats it gave to the BJP.

West Bengal sent the highest number of Muslims to the Lok Sabha at eight, followed by Bihar at four and Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir with three each. Among the prominent Muslim winners are former minister of state for external affairs E Ahamed (Indian Union Muslim League) and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal (All India United Democratic Front). Only four out of the 23 Muslim MPs are women.

Muslims constitute 13.4 per cent of India’s 1.2 billion population. While the scenario for Muslim representation was dismal, women’s representation touched an all-time high.

The 16th Lok Sabha will see 61 women parliamentarians, a marginal increase from last time’s 59. The catch, however, is that the strike rate of women candidates has gone down. While 59 out of 556 women made it to the Lok Sabha in 2009, only 61 were successful out of a total of over 700 contenders this time.